No. 12 seed Oregon drops Saint Louis to continue run

Mar. 23, 2013
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Oregon Ducks guard Damyean Dotson (21) celebrates with his team after the third round of the NCAA basketball tournament against the Saint Louis Billikens at HP Pavilion. / Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports

by David Leon Moore, USA TODAY Sports

by David Leon Moore, USA TODAY Sports

SAN JOSE - Oregon won two games at HP Pavilion the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, and neither one of them looked like an upset.

In taking down No. 5 seed Oklahoma State by 13 Thursday and No. 4 seed Saint Louis by 17 on Saturday, the 12th-seeded Ducks were more athletic, more passionate, more focused and probably, seven or eight deep, more talented.

They played like a confident conference champion, which they are, having won the Pac-12 tournament last week.

They played beyond their years, getting intelligent, clutch playmaking from an all-freshman backcourt, Damyean Dotson and Dominic Artis.

On Saturday, Dotson led the charge with 23 points, while forwards E.J. Singler and Carlos Emory had 14 each and forward Arsalan Kazemi had 16 rebounds, giving him 33 in two tournament games.

Dotson has been one of the breakout stars of the tournament.

"I'm just trying to stay aggressive, offensively and defensively, and do what coach tells me to do," Dotson said.

And Kazemi, the first Iranian national to play Division I basketball, has been a Dennis Rodman-like rebounding machine.

"It's the NCAA tournament, and I told myself I can help my team by getting as many rebounds as I can," he said. "I'm just doing what I can to help my team."

It seems like that's what they're all doing, so much so that coach Dana Altman uncharacteristically said he was surprised at how his team controlled both of these games.

"Sure, it's a surprise," he said. "I knew we could do some things, maybe win two games, but I had no idea we'd be able to do what we did. I thought we might get into a couple of 40-minute games. I had no idea it would go the way it did."

The Ducks stared down one of the most talented players in the tournament, Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart, on Thursday and sent him home.

They stared down one of the hottest players in the tournament, Saint Louis forward Dwayne Evans, on Saturday and they sent him home.

Offensively, defensively, in transition, on the boards, the Ducks were sharp and purposeful and look like a worthy challenger to Midwest No. 1 seed Louisville next week in the Sweet 16.

"They're a pretty confident group right now," Altman said of his team. "Two double-digit wins. In control of both games at halftime.

"But we know we have a tremendous challenge ahead of us against Louisville. We'll have to play our best game."

By the way, in case it had been forgotten in recent years as he built his team to be ready for just this moment, Altman can coach some basketball.

He came to Eugene in 2010 to replace Ernie Kent, who had done some good things at Oregon but not enough of them in his 13 seasons. Altman was not the first choice. Oregon, bankrolled in part by Ducks alum and Nike co-founder Phil Knight, made a push to hire Michigan State fixture Tom Izzo, who said no. They flirted with other big and hot names, like Gonzaga's Mark Few and Butler's Brad Stevens.

"I don't know how many turned it down," Altman said. "Anywhere from two to 15."

They ended up with Altman, sending the Ducks holdovers like Singler to his laptop to Google "Dana Altman."

What they found out, and what some people marveling at Oregon's discipline and efficiency this weekend might not know, is that Altman, 54, built an impressive mid-major power at Creighton.

He took over a losing program and stayed there 16 years. After three years of building, his next 13 teams finished no lower than fourth in the highly competitive Missouri Valley Conference. At one point, his teams won more than 20 games in 11 consecutive seasons. He took seven of his teams to the NCAA tournament.

"He's been a great coach for a long time," said St. Louis interim coach Jim Crews, who had MVC battles with Altman when Crews coached at Evansville. "It amuses me when people react to a hiring by saying 'Dana Who?' Hey, Adolph Rupp ain't coming to Oregon. They got a great guy in Dana."

At Oregon, Altman took over a hodgepodge of a roster and won 21 games the first year, then won 24 (and finished tied for second in the Pac-12) last year, and now has won 28 this year ... and counting.

The way they're playing now, a 30-win season doesn't seem out of reach.